Police Log

Posted
Thursday, August 23, 2012 1:00 pm

The Police Log is a digest of reports filed by the Warwick Police.

CAMPINGOfficer Scott Chanthaphouvong reported he and another officer were dispatched to the Stop & Shop at 300 Quaker Lane for a report of suspicious activity behind the building there. He said they arrived to find a man with a pickup truck who had three sections of metal fencing in the back of his truck. Chanthaphouvong said the man told him he was scrapping it. He told police he found the fencing while he was walking his dog. He said he was helping to clear out the trash and was scrapping the fence. Chanthaphouvong called the YMCA next to the plaza, and they told him the fence belonged to the management company that owns the plaza.Chanthaphouvong said he called that company and the manager said she did not give “anyone permission to cut down the fence to the property and steal it” and said they would press charges against the suspect. Kevin J. Racine, 37, who told police he was homeless, informed police that he often finds metal and scraps it and he had been arrested before in Coventry for the same charge. Chanthaphouvong said Racine showed them a camp he had set up behind the Christmas Tree Shoppe and police searched it and found no contraband. Racine was taken to headquarters and charged with larceny.The next day, Officer Christopher Fernandes was dispatched to the same area for more suspicious behavior behind the plaza. Workers told police a man with a dog was walking back and forth between buildings in the plaza. Fernandes said he walked toward the area and an unleashed pit bull-like dog charged at him but was not aggressive. He said the man, who turned out to be Racine again, apologized for the dog. Fernandes said he heard other dogs barking, and Racine told him his girlfriend and five other dogs were back there. Fernandes said Racine had been given a trespass warning the day before and his girlfriend, who was also homeless, was told not to come back to the property. Animal Control rounded up the dogs. Fernandes said the 22-year-old woman was escorted off the place while Racine was arrested for willful trespass and also with possession of marijuana after they found a pipe and a small bag of it in Racine’s pocket. He was later transported to the Kent County Court House for arraignment.

MISSING BIKESA Suburban Parkway resident told police two bicycles went missing from his property on Aug. 14. He said he left his house around 8:30 that morning and noticed that the bikes were gone when he came home around 1:30 p.m. He said one of the bikes was an old 12-speed with orange handles that was worth around $70 and the other was a purple 7-speed Mongoose valued at $110. No witnesses or suspects.A Potters Avenue resident came into headquarters on Aug. 18 to report that a green 21-speed Trek 26 bicycle with a two-piece split seat went missing from his yard. He said the bike was worth around $150. He said he came out of his house that morning and noticed the bike was missing. There were no witnesses or suspects.

DUI AND REFUSALOfficer James Wenneman reported he got a tip from dispatch about a possible drunk driver on Post Road around 9:50 p.m. on Aug. 19. He said he caught up with the suspect vehicle and followed it while observing it drifting from lane to lane and over the centerline before he pulled it over near Aborn Avenue. He said the driver smelled of alcohol and appeared intoxicated. He said the man at first said he was not drinking but later admitted he had “a few beers.” He said the man failed a field sobriety test and was taken to headquarters, where he refused a breath test. He said a check of the driver’s record revealed a prior arrest for DUI Aug. 20, 2011. James D. Ward, 42, of 122 Ocean Ave., Cranston, was charged with DUI, second offense and refusal and later released to a sober adult.Officer Matthew Moretti reported he clocked a car doing 47 miles per hour on Long Street around 9:25 p.m. on Aug. 20. He said he followed the car and saw it cross the double yellow lines twice and he saw a large dog jumping from the back seat to the front several times before he pulled it over. He said the driver appeared to be drunk and smelled of alcohol. He said the driver failed a field sobriety test and was taken to headquarters, where he registered a .177, but he took the card that was blocking the readout off the machine. Moretti said the card is placed there so suspects won’t stop blowing too early. Moretti said he saw the readout of .177 blood alcohol content (BAC) and said, “I’m [expletive]. I’m not blowing anymore.” Richard A. Housman, 54, of 3155 Post Rd., Warwick, was charged with speeding, laned roadway violations, DUI and refusal. Moretti reported that Housman became belligerent with him, accused Moretti of targeting him and refused to sign any of the citations. He was later released to a sober adult.Officer Charles Austin reported he was dispatched to the Burger King at 1010 Bald Hill Rd. around 1:50 a.m. on Aug. 19 for an accident with injuries. Austin said he arrived to find the driver outside the car and asked him if he had any injuries. He said the driver told him he bumped his head when the airbag deployed but was all right. Austin said he told him Rescue was on the way and then asked what happened. He said the driver told him he was texting while driving and did not see the pole he hit but Austin said he smelled strongly of alcohol and was swaying back and forth. He said Rescue checked the driver out and he said he did not want to go to the hospital. He said he gave the driver a field sobriety test and he failed it. Austin said the driver blew a .121 and a .119 BAC. Matthew A. Cunningham, 22, of 97 Chatworth Ave., Warwick, was charged with DUI and later released to the staff of Kent Hospital when a sober adult could not be found to take him home.Austin said he later learned that a witness to the accident said she asked the driver if he was hurt and he asked her not to call 911. According to the report he told her he was drunk and that he “will run if you call the police.” He also said a search of the car failed to turn up a cell phone, which made his claim to be texting false.Officer Melissa Schlitzer reported stopping a car on Route 37 after watching it operate erratically on Post Road around 5:20 p.m. on Aug. 4. She said the driver had glossy eyes and “pinpoint pupils” and was lethargic and appeared to be under the influence of some kind of drug. She said the driver admitted that he had used heroin in the past but was taking Suboxone. She said there were fresh punctures in his arms and his droopy eyes suggested he was high. She said she started to give him a field sobriety test but stopped it when she feared he would fall and hurt himself. She said a preliminary portable breath test revealed no alcohol in his blood but he refused a second breath test at headquarters. Robert E. Seeley, 65, of 8 Washburn Court, Wareham, Mass., was charged with DUI and refusal and taken to Kent Hospital for detox.Officer Daniel DiMaio reported an accident between a car and a tree on North Country Club Drive around 2:30 a.m. on Aug. 18. He said dispatch cautioned him that the driver was seen running away from the scene and he pulled up next to a running female who continued to run when she saw him, but he did stop her and she claimed she was just walking to a friend’s house and was not driving the vehicle. He said she eventually gave up that claim and admitted she was driving her car when it crashed. He said she had an odor of alcohol about her and appeared to be under the influence as he transported her back to the scene. He said the woman failed a field sobriety test, saying that no sober adult could pass it. She was taken to headquarters, where she screamed that she would not take a breath test and began to cry and scream some more in a cell before she was let out for processing. Phyllis B. Arffa, 49, of 28 Prospect St., Cranston, was charged with DUI, refusal and leaving her lane of travel.